1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information output system in which electronic mail is utilized, and particularly, it relates to a system for receiving electronic mail from a terminal apparatus and outputting (particularly, printing) information included in the electronic mail.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, electronic mail is broadly utilized as a communication tool. With respect to the transmission/reception of electronic mail, a transmitter and a receiver generally utilize a personal computer (PC). In recent years, many apparatuses such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDA) and notebook-size PC's are provided with an electronic mail transmission/reception function. Such a portable terminal apparatus can also be utilized to perform the transmission/reception of electronic mail.
A memory capacity in the above portable terminal apparatus is not so large, and there is a restriction on a browsing system and application software which can be mounted on the terminal apparatus. Therefore, the reception of the electronic mail and the browsing of text are possible, but it is impossible to browse a file or data attached to the electronic mail in some cases, and it is also impossible to browse text constituted of a long sentence in other cases. Furthermore, the terminal apparatus is usually provided with no printer. Therefore, the attached file or data can be browsed on a screen, but it cannot be printed. Therefore, in the related art, it has been necessary to improve the function of the terminal apparatus, or to transfer the received electronic mail to a PC system in a home or an office. In the former case, however, the constitution of the terminal apparatus is complicated, and in the latter case, prompt communication is inhibited.
On the other hand, in a print center, and the like, a print service is presented to an unspecified number of the general public. A person who utilizes the print service transmits print information to the print center via a network. Thereby, the printing of the print information is executed in the print center. However, in order for a user to easily utilize this service, there is a room for improvement in the system. In the print center, usually, on a condition that a fee has been paid, printed matter already printed and stored is handed over to an owner. However, the printing is actually executed at a stage in which the payment is not secured, and therefore a problem arises that a print cost associated with expendable supplies cannot be collected in a case in which the owner does not come to take the printed matter or in other cases. Moreover, it is also troublesome for the service user to pay the fee every time one printed matter is received, and a rational settlement system has been demanded. Furthermore, it is necessary to cope with computer viruses which has raised a problem in recent years.
Disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 191453/1998 is a system for utilizing a telephone line to transfer the print information to a printer of a store (e.g., a gas station) from an information processor mounted in a car, so that the printer prints the print information. In the system, a candidate for the printer for executing the printing is searched for in accordance with a car position. However, in this system, an appropriate printer is not determined as the candidate in accordance with properties of the print information. For example, even with presence of a color printer which can print a color image, there is always the possibility that the nearest monochromatic printer will be determined as the candidate. Moreover, in this system, it is presumed that the printing is executed after transfer of the print information, and a charging processing is performed during delivery of the printed matter, but a case in which the owner of the printed matter fails to come to take the printed matter is not considered. Furthermore, it is presumed that an exclusive protocol or the like needs to be developed to realize the aforementioned service, but effective utilization of the existing communication tool is not considered.
Disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 146118/1999 is a system for performing user authentication when the print service is performed. Moreover, as a print charging mode, selection of credit card settlement, drawing from a bank account, or cash on delivery is also disclosed. However, also in this system, effective utilization of existing communication tools is not considered. Additionally, since the charging is performed after the printing of the print information, the aforementioned problem similarly occurs. Moreover, suitability of the printer for the print information is not judged.
Disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 77994/1994 is a system for utilizing electronic mail to transfer the print information to the print service center. Since an electronic mail system broadly spread at present is utilized, compared with the aforementioned two conventional systems, the system is satisfactory in user operability, and advantageous in system spreading and extending properties. However, since a constitution for integrally managing a plurality of printers to judge an appropriate printer is not used, there is a disadvantage in respect of the service. Particularly, it is impossible to select a proper print destination in consideration of the properties of the print information. Furthermore, charging is important in performing the print service, but no concrete constitution is disclosed in this respect.
Other than for the aforementioned documents, examples of the document in which the conventional art is disclosed include Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 234464/1999, 322509/1998, 254982/1998, 27822/1997, 6005/1995, 240637/1998, 200367/1997, 191081/1999, 222527/1998, 63601/1998, 284847/1997, 288403/1999, and the like. However, the systems described in the respective documents cannot sufficiently achieve the following object of the present invention.
Additionally, in the above description, the related art has been described mainly with respect to print output, but additionally there are various information output systems such as screen display, sound output and dynamic image regeneration. With these situations, the aforementioned problems similarly exist. Moreover, the aforementioned respective problems similarly exist not only in a case in which the information is outputted from the portable terminal apparatus, but also in a case in which the information is outputted from a fixedly installed terminal apparatus (PC, and the like).